Marseille In Late Push to Secure Chelsea’s Gael Kakuta

Monday, 27th August, 2012

Despite reports from Greece that Olympiacos are closing in on snapping up Gael Kakuta from Chelsea, Marseille are making a late bid to tempt the forward to the Stade Velodrome.

According to Le 10 Sport, Marseille officials have been in London thrashing out an agreement with Chelsea which would see Kakuta offered the opportunity to continue his career under Elie Baup on the French south coast.

Chelsea are said to have given the green light to the 21-year-old moving on loan to Marseille for the entire season, while importantly the French giants would also have the chance to purchase Kakuta outright at the end of the loan for a fixed fee of €7M.

Marseille will also pay Kakuta’s entire salary for the duration of the loan.

Chelsea and Marseille met recently to thrash out the sale of Cesar Azpilicueta, with the Champions League winners believed to have paid around €8M for the 22-year-old.

And the close relationship forged during those talks is thought to have led to discussions about Kakuta.

The forward is likely to struggle for playing time if he remains at Stamford Bridge this season. He spent the 2011/12 season on loan at first Bolton Wanderers and then Dijon.

In Ligue 1, Kakuta impressed, scoring four goals in 12 games for Les Rouges.